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"Pope Joan" (1996) Y En "Yentl" (1983)

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El disfraz de hombre como pasaporte al mundo de la cultura en Pope Joan (1996) y en Yentl (1983): una interrelación cine-literatura Mónica María MARTÍNEZ DE SARIEGO Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria [email protected] RESUMEN En esta comunicación nos proponemos demostrar cómo la película Yentl (Barbra Streisand, 1983) ha ejercido cierta influencia en la actual configuración literaria del personaje de la papisa en la novela Pope Joan (1996) de Donna W. Cross. Para ello se valorarán tanto los casos de aparente intertextualidad como las coincidencias que pueden deberse al brotar espontáneo de los lugares comunes que yuxtaponen, con frecuencia, las fábulas de travestis- mo femenino. Palabras clave: Papisa Juana, Yentl, travestismo femenino. ABSTRACT This paper demonstrates how the film Yentl (Barbra Streisand, 1983) has exerted a cer- tain influence on the literary configuration of the female pope’s character in Pope Joan (1996), Donna W. Cross’ most recent novel. In order to achieve this objective, I will not only consider actual examples of intertextuality but also the coincidences, which may be explained as a result of common places frequently juxtaposed in female cross-dressing fables. Key words: Pope Joan, Yentl, female cross-dressing. Aunque el mundo medieval ha sido un punto de referencia constante en la tra- dición cultural de Occidente desde el Renacimiento hasta nuestros días y su presen- cia sigue manifestándose en los más diversos registros de la literatura actual, es evi- dente que sólo en los últimos treinta años se ha enriquecido el muestrario de Mil Seiscientos Dieciséis, Anuario 2006, vol. XII, 261-272 261 Mónica María Martínez de Sariego perspectivas sobre la mujer medieval y, singularmente, sobre las figuras femeninas más prominentes, entre las que desempeña un papel de primera importancia la papi- sa Juana. Donna Woolfolk Cross, reivindicando su figura, recrea en Pope Joan (1996) la historia, a medio camino entre leyenda y realidad, de una joven del siglo IX que, vestida de hombre, se ve inmersa en la trama de intrigas políticas que envuelve a los estados pontificios y termina por ascender al trono papal en el año 853 bajo el nombre de Juan Ánglico. Ni mujer enamorada ni uirgo bellatrix –los dos tipos más representativos entre los casos históricos o literarios de mujer vestida de hombre–, es el afán de conocimiento el que impulsa a Juana a travestirse, motiva- ción que guía también a Yentl, protagonista de un relato de Isaac Bashevis Singer (1962) que se ha convertido en referente de la cultura de masas gracias a la pelícu- la dirigida y protagonizada por Barbra Streisand (1983). Este personaje, dada su enorme popularidad, ha sido puesto en relación con la papisa de Cross hasta por las revistas de papel cuché, que en su momento definieron a Juana como “a kind of Yentl of the Vatican” (Glamour), pero no se ha apuntado, hasta el momento, la rela- ción genética que pudiera existir entre el film y la novela, que, en ciertos puntos, al ampliar e introducir modificaciones en la versión canónica de la historia, parece seguirla muy de cerca. Nuestro objetivo, pues, es el de demostrar cómo en la actual configuración literaria de este personaje medieval del más oscuro de los siglos oscuros, han intervenido, además de las consabidas fuentes escritas, un texto cine- matográfico, hecho que da cuenta de la necesidad de atender, en el ámbito del com- paratismo, no sólo a la influencia de la literatura sobre el cine, sino también a la del cine sobre la literatura. Se valorará, asimismo, cuáles de las coincidencias pueden deberse, más que a un proceso de intertextualidad, al brotar espontáneo de los luga- res comunes que yuxtaponen, con frecuencia, las fábulas de travestismo femenino. 1. LA HISTORIA DE LA PAPISA SEGÚN LAS FUENTES 1.1. Datos fundamentales de su biografía Por más que el Vaticano trate de reducir su importancia, la historia del papado está llena de leyendas e imprecisiones históricas, entre las que sobresale, sin duda, la apasionante historia de la papisa Juana, que, según evidencian las numerosas referencias que a ella se hacen en crónicas, guías de viaje y piezas literarias, fasci- nó tanto a los historiadores como a los poetas. De acuerdo con la mayor parte de las fuentes, Juana fue una joven de ascendencia inglesa, nacida en Ingelheim, Magun- cia o, según algunos, en la propia Inglaterra, que adoptó una vestimenta masculina para poder realizar estudios superiores junto a su amante. Su diligencia académica la condujo a un vertiginoso ascenso en la jerarquía eclesiástica y, en última instan- cia, al trono papal, quedando de manifiesto su verdadera condición sólo cuando, dos años y medio más tarde, durante una solemne procesión eclesiástica, cayó al suelo jadeando y dio a luz a un niño entre grandes espasmos. El desenlace de esta histo- ria varía según las fuentes: algunas sostienen que una multitud embravecida dio muerte al impostor; otras que fue encarcelada o, simplemente, depuesta y condena- da al exilio; pero la mayor parte de los autores asegura que murió en el parto. 262 Mil Seiscientos Dieciséis, Anuario 2006, vol. XII, 261-272 El disfraz de hombre como pasaporte al mundo de la cultura en Pope Joan (1996)… 1.2. Los textos fundacionales del mito Aunque se afirma generalmente que la papisa vivió a mediados del siglo IX o, según otras fuentes, durante el siglo XI, su existencia no aparece atestiguada en documentos anteriores al siglo XIII. Los defensores de su autenticidad histórica, como Johannes Wolf, historiador protestante del siglo XVI y compilador de una bibliografía sobre el tema, aducen, sin embargo, fuentes más tempranas. Se ha ale- gado, por ejemplo, que en el importantísimo Liber pontificalis del siglo IX, atribui- do a Anastasius Bibliothecarius, aparecen ya referencias a la papisa, pero la crítica más acreditada ha explicado dichas menciones como producto de añadidos poste- riores. También fruto de una interpolación ha sido considerado el relato que figura en la que –junto al Chronicon Universalis Mettensis (ca. 1250), usualmente atribui- do al dominico Jean de Mailly, la Erfurt Chronicle (ca. 1250) y el De septem donis Spiritus Sancti, de Stephen de Bourbon (ca. 1260)–, constituye la más importante fuente de propagación del mito: el Chronicon Pontificum et Imperatorum, de Mar- tinus Polonus († 1278), conocido también como Martin de Troppau, cuya obra, por haber servido su autor como capellán y penitenciario del papa Clemente IV, recibió la consideración de documento oficial. La entrada sobre la papisa Juana, en efecto, no figura tampoco en los más tempranos manuscritos de esta crónica, por lo que no parece gratuita la asunción de que, como en el caso anterior, se trate de una adición fruto de redacciones posteriores, probablemente producida después de la muerte de Polonus en el último cuarto del siglo XIII1. El pasaje en cuestión resulta, con todo, interesante, pues, pese a su muy posible condición espuria, sirvió de modelo a muchos cronistas posteriores, y se convirtió en la referencia más autorizada a lo lar- go de la Edad Media y el Renacimiento: Después de este León, Juan Ánglico, nativo de Maguncia, ocupó el trono por dos años, siete meses, y cuatro días, y murió en Roma; y el papado estuvo en sus- pensión por un mes. Este papa, según se asevera, fue una mujer, y, conducida a Ate- nas con hábito masculino por un amante suyo durante su adolescencia, tanto sobre- salió en las diversas ciencias que no se encontraba nadie semejante a ella, hasta tal punto que después, enseñando el trivium en Roma, tuvo como discípulos y oyentes a grandes maestros. Y, gozando su conducta y su saber de alta estima en la ciudad, fue unánimemente elegida papa. Pero mientras ejercía como tal, quedó encinta de su amigo. Ignorando el momento del parto, al dirigirse desde San Pedro a Letrán, dio a luz, angustiada, entre el Coliseo y la iglesia de San Clemente; y después de muerta, según se dice, fue enterrada en el mismo lugar. Y, puesto que el papa evita 1 Todas las copias tempranas del Chronicon presentan unas cincuenta líneas por página, y asignan una sola a cada año de papado. La entrada de la papisa que, en teoría, no debería ocupar más de tres líne- as, abarca, en el texto latino, unas 150 palabras, distribuidas en casi todos los ejemplares en siete líneas completas. “Since Martin took such a pride in the organized nature of the Chronicon, it is highly unli- kely that he would have mangled it so badly at one point, and one point only, in order to insinuate Pope Joan into the chronology. The conclusion is inevitable; that the passage is an interpolation, almost cer- tainly not from the pen of Martin, and most probably inserted some time after his death” (Pardoe 1988: 22). Es más, buena parte de los manuscritos más tempranos no incluyen referencia alguna, ni larga ni corta, a la papisa. Mil Seiscientos Dieciséis, Anuario 2006, vol. XII, 261-272 263 Mónica María Martínez de Sariego siempre la calle en cuestión, muchos creen que lo hace por repulsa a lo acontecido. Tampoco se la incluye en el catálogo de los santos pontífices, por el desdoro que suponía su condición femenina para esto2. Muy pronto algunos autores reconocieron la fuerza crítica de la leyenda, enton- ces crédulamente admitida como verdad histórica, y la utilizaron como un tópico pero poderosísimo argumento en las polémicas contra las irregularidades eclesiás- ticas. El panorama de aceptación casi generalizada de la misma no cambió hasta la publicación, en 1647, del Familier Eclaircissement de la Question, si une femme a esté assise au siege Papal de Rome entre Leon IV & Benoist III, donde el historia- dor protestante David Blondel (1591-1655), que seguía la estela de Onofrio Panvi- nio y de Florimond de Raemond en su Erreur populaire de la Papesse Jane (1587), derrumbó los fundamentos sobre los que ésta se asentaba.
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